This week’s pick is the website of Heritage Baptist Church in Endicott, New York. In addition to having the normal fundy website features, this site contains one page of particular note — or many notes as the case may be.
Indeed this congregation has discovered music encoded in the Scriptures. This inspired music is “derived and played from a combination of the Hebrew words, verbal and musical syntax, syllables and accent marks found in the Masoretic text of the Old Testament.” And then it just gets weird. They claim “One should recognize that this music is not separate from God’s inspired and preserved words; thus, the music is God’s inspired and preserved music. ” From the music presented we’re left to believe that God writes music in Western style and 4/4 time. Oy vey.
Enjoy!
“They claim “One should recognize that this music is not separate from God’s inspired and preserved words; thus, the music is God’s inspired and preserved music. —
It would then logically follow that, in an effort to be “biblical,” one should abstain from all other forms of music, including all those “old-fashioned hymns.” (Yes, I know there are psalms-only churches and frankly there’s a lot to be said the singing of psalms. Still, this church is taking it way farther than that.)
Hey! This church voted this last summer to start a seminary that rejects all five points of Calvinism, and offer an MDiv. A Diploma Mill to say the least! 🙂
I am constantly amazed at the lengths people will go to to try to stretch their view of a Bible translation into other aspects of their life (like music). From their perspective, I wonder if they think that anyone is truly saved that sings something other than their songs!
wow. i’ve read a lot of ignorant (read: stupid) things about music from the fundy zone, but this is possibly the single stupidest thing i’ve ever read. first off: i’m no manuscript expert, but i’m pretty sure the accent marks and/or vowels are a late addition to the Hebrew text, which in itself is younger than the LXX (which, of course, doesn’t exist if you’re a full-blown fundy). second: most fundy melodies are either old drinking songs or negro spirituals (rearranged to deprive them of any soul) that date back a whole 200-300 years (which is ancient in their minds). third:… oh, forget it. there’s just too much wrong with this. if i try to list all the historical/ethnomusicalogical absurdities, my head would explode.
ÂÂ
nothing makes this Byzantine chanter more frustrated than stupid fundy music logic. is staff notation inspired? what about gregorian, znemmeny, & byzantine neumes? are these “of the devil”? and if the KJV is the only inspired translation, why are the inspired crypto-musical notes not found in the KJV?
ÂÂ
seriously- do these people THINK???? (i better stop before i start abusing the capslock)
To which most fundies will reply, the “what, what, and what?”
For a previous post in the same vein, check out Confusing Western Culture With Christianity
This guy probably thinks “pelagianism” is copying somebody else’s work.
BTW, Mo, when you say things like “most fundy melodies are either old drinking songs or negro spirituals (rearranged to deprive them of any soul) that date back a whole 200-300 years (which is ancient in their minds)” you’re guilty of the same kind of over exaggeration that these guys engage in. If you’re right in your statement, name ten of these melodies and win a prize.
Yeah, the vast majority of hymns (and I spent a lot of time reading the hymnal during boring sermons as a child) have music written by the hymn-writers themselves or someone who made a living setting hymns. There are a few–I can’t recall which at the moment–with music by guys like Handel and Bach.
That kudo aside, I tried listening to the music they “found” in the Hebrew text (which, to their credit, they at least admit exists), and it sounded exactly like something you’d piece together from a random pattern–no melody, no rhythm, no harmony, just a formless series of notes. And here I thought God was the God of order.
So, by rejecting all 5 points of Calvinism does that mean they don’t believe in eternal security for the believer? Cause that would be very odd for an IFB church.
Mo is confusing music genre (Bar music drinking songs) with music style (bar written music)….
I think what bothers me most is that this guy actually did go to seminary, and it was a pretty good one, to boot. I guess every school is bound to loose one or two nutcases.
So now that I can’t claim I have more degrees than this guy, I can at least claim that, unlike him, my degrees are specifically in the field he feels qualified to opine about: music. So…this whole “inspired music” mess. I was hoping to make it out of the first paragraph but – surprise! – definitions are twisted even there. “Tenor” does not refer to expressing thoughts with breath out of the mouth. Most folks call that “speaking.” “Tenor” refers to a complete mood or train of thought and encompasses not only speech but the written word and body language, for starters. So right there the train’s derailed and it hadn’t even finished boarding passengers yet.
By the time he gets around to “tenor” in the OT he’s already invented his own definition of “tenor” (see: “speech”) and now the train not only has left the tracks but also a nuke inside the train detonated, flattening the surrounding 300 miles. By the end of his dissertation it looks like the end of “Knowing” – the entire world has exploded and taken all the good guys with it.
Not once in his rant did he talk about pitch, meter, etc. Congratulations, sir, you just made a case that spoken Ancient Hebrew sounded like a spoken language. I can now rest easy at night having answered a question that, like all of you, I’m sure, have wondered: Was Hebrew really a language?
Listening to the music I suspect all he did was attempt to read the Hebrew with natural inflection and pattern a “melody” line to that inflection, then add distinctly non-Eastern ornamentation on it. Hint: people have been doing his for years.
Also: I smell shenanigans: http://www.musicfromgod.com
Again I am comforted by the fact that these nutcase fundie churches appear to consist of 25-50 members or less.
Did any of you listen to the music? I tried… didn’t make it through much of it. Not many things make me angry, but this one does. God’s music? Bah!
It’s catchy but you can’t dance to it. I’ll just stick with DC Talk.
Ron Bean: you’re criticism of my post is correct. i have indeed attempted to refute fundyism by use of classic fundy tactics. forgiveness, please.
Awww. Group Hug Everybody!
Let’s hope heaven’s piano is not that out of tune. Yowzer.
“This is what you’ll hear in Heaven.”
And what happens when I’m truly disappointed!!
Not to judge or anything…but I think they may be on crack or something else…Dunno.
If this is the music we will hear in heaven as they claim, we’re in for an eternity of boring, repetitive tunes
No problem, Mo. I’m for the group hug as long as it’s around a piano that’s in tune.
Wait….Is this pastor a geocentrist as well? Good grief.
^ This article “tickles my mind” in the same way a doctor may “tickle my stomach” to induce vomiting.
There is defending truth…and then there looking for something to be defensive about. This man seems to have an unusual desire to mark out his own utterly unique territory, no easy task in uber-independant fundyland.
“One has to ask, DoI really, really believe the Bible or do I believe the scientists?”
Argh. False dichotomy. Another thing fundies like.
“Argh. False dichotomy. Another thing fundies like.”
A false dichotomy with the purpose of shutting down the opposition – another “stuff fundies like.” Grr.
A geocentrist? Makes sense. After all, Copernicus was a Papist…
Does any one know if there are fundy sites that cover the following issues? If I am going to heaven, I really want to know these things now so I can figure out how I should pray to God to fix these things.
Color: I want my place to have colors I like, e.g. green, blue, brown. None of this pink stuff, yuk.
Clothes: No togas or anything that may look like a dress. It just gags me.
Don’t worry, JimE, the clothing in heaven will consist of non-denim slacks and collared shirts- just like Jesus wore: http://www.stufffundieslike.com/2009/03/just-plain-making-stuff-up/
@RWales – I’m feeling somewhat better now that an expert on heavenly clothing has been found. Double kudos since he’s a fundy preacher 😉
Still looking for a heavenly color expert. Anyone ..??